From the Akashic Record
GA 11
Translated by Steiner Online Library
The Transition from the Fourth to the Fifth Root Race
[ 1 ] The following statements refer to the transition from the fourth (Atlantic) root race to the fifth (Aryan) root race, to which present-day civilized humanity belongs. Only those who can fully grasp the concept of evolution in its entirety and in all its significance will understand them correctly. Everything that human beings perceive around them is in a state of evolution. And the characteristic of the people of our fifth root race—which lies in the use of thought—has only recently developed. Indeed, it is precisely this root race that is slowly and gradually bringing the power of thought to maturity. Modern human beings resolve (in thought) to do something, and then carry it out as the consequence of their own thought. Among the Atlanteans, this ability was only beginning to take shape. It was not their own thoughts, but those flowing to them from higher beings that influenced their will. Their will was thus, in a sense, directed from without. — Anyone who familiarizes themselves with this concept of human evolution and learns to acknowledge that in ancient times human beings were of a completely different nature—as earthly human beings—will also be able to rise to the conception of the entirely different beings spoken of in the messages. The evolution described here spanned immensely long periods of time. What has been said above regarding the fourth root race, the Atlanteans, refers to the vast majority of humanity. But this majority was led by guides whose abilities towered far above their own. The wisdom these leaders possessed and the powers they mastered could not be attained through any earthly education. They had been bestowed upon them by higher beings not directly associated with the Earth. It was therefore only natural that the vast majority of people perceived these leaders as beings of a higher order, as “messengers” of the gods. For what these leaders knew and were able to accomplish could not have been achieved through human sensory organs or the human intellect. People revered them as “messengers of the gods” and received their commands, commandments, and also their teachings. Through beings of this kind, humanity was instructed in the sciences, the arts, and the manufacture of tools. And such “messengers of the gods” either led the communities themselves or instructed people who were sufficiently advanced in the arts of governance. It was said of these leaders that they “communicated with the gods” and were initiated by the gods themselves into the laws according to which humanity must develop. And this corresponded to reality. In places unknown to the masses, this initiation—this communion with the gods—took place. These places of initiation were called mystery temples. It was from these temples, then, that the governance of the human race took place.
[ 2 ] Consequently, what took place in the temples of the Mysteries was also incomprehensible to the people. Nor did they understand the intentions of their great leaders. After all, the people could only comprehend with their senses what was happening directly on Earth, not what was revealed from higher worlds for the sake of Earth’s salvation. Therefore, the teachings of the leaders also had to be formulated in a way that was unlike accounts of earthly events. After all, the language the gods spoke to their messengers in the mysteries was not an earthly one, and the forms in which these gods revealed themselves were no more earthly. The higher spirits appeared to their messengers “in fiery clouds” to instruct them on how to guide humanity. Only a human being can appear in human form; beings whose abilities transcend the human must reveal themselves in forms not found among earthly beings.
[ 3 ] The reason the “messengers of God” were able to receive these revelations is that they themselves were the most perfect among their human brothers. They had already gone through, at earlier stages of development, what the majority of people still have to go through. They belonged to the human race only in a certain sense. They were able to assume human form. But their soul-spiritual qualities were of a superhuman nature. They were, therefore, divine-human dual beings. One could thus also describe them as higher spirits who had taken on human bodies in order to further assist humanity on its earthly path. Their true home was not on Earth. — These beings guided humanity without being able to communicate the principles by which they were guiding them. For up until the fifth subrace of the Atlanteans—the Proto-Semites—humanity simply lacked the capacity to comprehend these principles. It was only the power of thought, which developed in this subrace, that provided such a capacity. But this ability developed slowly and gradually. And even the last subraces of the Atlanteans could still comprehend very little of the principles of their divine guides. They began—at first very imperfectly—to sense something of such principles. Therefore, their thoughts and also the laws mentioned in connection with their state institutions were more sensed than clearly thought.
[ 4 ] The chief leader of the fifth Atlantean subrace gradually prepared it so that, in later times, after the downfall of the Atlantean way of life, it could begin a new one—one governed entirely by the power of thought.
[ 5 ] Now one must bear in mind that, at the end of the Atlantean era, there were three groups of human-like beings. 1. The aforementioned “messengers of the gods,” who were far ahead of the great masses in their development, taught divine wisdom, and performed divine deeds. 2. The great masses themselves, whose powers of thought were in a dull state, even though they possessed innate abilities that have been lost to humanity today. 3. A smaller group of those who developed their powers of thought. Although this group gradually lost the innate abilities of the Atlanteans, it developed the capacity to intellectually grasp the principles of the “messengers of the gods.” — The second group of human beings was doomed to gradual extinction. The third, however, could be drawn upon by the beings of the first kind to take their own destiny into their hands.
[ 6 ] From this third group, the aforementioned chief leader—whom occult literature refers to as Manu—selected the most capable individuals in order to bring forth a new humanity from among them. These most capable individuals were found in the fifth sub-race. The intellectual capacity of the sixth and seventh sub-races had already, in a certain sense, gone astray and was no longer suitable for further development. — The best qualities of the best had to be developed. This was accomplished by the leader isolating the chosen ones in a special place on Earth—in Inner Asia—and freeing them from any influence of those who had fallen behind or gone astray. — The task the Leader set for himself was to bring his group to the point where its members could, within their own souls and through their own power of thought, grasp the principles by which they had hitherto been guided in a way they had sensed but not clearly recognized. People were to recognize the divine forces they had unconsciously followed. Until then, the gods had guided people through their messengers; now people were to know of these divine beings. They were to learn to regard themselves as the instruments through which divine providence acts.
[ 7 ] This isolated group was thus faced with an important decision. The divine leader was in their midst, in human form. Humanity had previously received instructions and commands from such messengers of the gods regarding what they were to do or refrain from doing. They had been instructed in the sciences that related to what they had been able to perceive with their senses. People had sensed a divine world government and had felt it in their own actions; but they had known nothing clear about it. — Now their leader spoke to them in an entirely new way. He taught them that invisible powers govern what they see before them; and that they themselves are servants of these invisible powers, that they must carry out the laws of these invisible powers through their thoughts. People heard of a supernatural, divine realm. And that the invisible spiritual realm is the creator and sustainer of the visible physical world. Until then, they had looked up to their visible messengers of the gods—the superhuman initiates, one of whom was the very one speaking to them—and it was from them that they were told what to do and what to avoid. But now they were granted the privilege of having the messenger of the gods speak to them directly from the gods themselves. The message he repeatedly impressed upon his followers was powerful. “Until now, you have seen those who led you; but there are higher leaders whom you do not see. And to these leaders you are subject. You shall carry out the commands of the God whom you do not see; and you shall obey one of whom you cannot form an image.” Thus, from the mouth of the great leader came the new supreme commandment, which prescribed the worship of a God to whom no sensory, visible image could be likened—and of whom, therefore, no image was to be made. An echo of this great primordial commandment of the fifth human race is the well-known: “You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor any image of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth...” 5Book of Moses, Chapter 10, verse 51
[ 8 ] The Chief Guide (Manu) was assisted by other divine messengers, who carried out his intentions in the various spheres of life and worked toward the development of the new race. For the aim was to organize all of life in accordance with the new conception of a divine world government. People’s thoughts were to be directed everywhere from the visible to the invisible. Life is determined by the forces of nature. The course of human life depends on day and night, winter and summer, sunshine and rain. How these influential visible phenomena are connected to the invisible (divine) forces, and how humans should conduct themselves so that they may organize their lives in accordance with these invisible powers—this was shown to them. All knowledge and all work should be pursued in this spirit. In the movements of the stars and the weather conditions, humans were to see the divine counsel, the manifestation of divine wisdom. Astronomy and meteorology were taught in this spirit. And humans were to organize their work and their moral lives in such a way that they corresponded to the wise laws of the Divine. Life was ordered according to divine commandments, just as the divine thoughts were explored in the movements of the stars, in weather conditions, and so on. Through sacrificial rites, human beings were to bring their deeds into harmony with the providence of the gods. — It was Manu’s intention to direct everything in human life toward the higher worlds. All human activity and all institutions were to bear a religious character. Through this, Manu sought to usher in what is the true task of the fifth root race. This race was to learn to guide itself through its thoughts. But such self-determination can lead to salvation only if human beings also place themselves in the service of the higher powers. Human beings should make use of their power of thought; but this power of thought should be sanctified by a focus on the Divine.
[ 9 ] One can only fully understand what happened back then if one also knows that the development of the power of thought, beginning with the fifth subrace of the Atlanteans, had brought about something else as well. For, from a certain perspective, human beings had come into possession of knowledge and arts that were not directly connected to what the aforementioned Manu must have regarded as his actual task. This knowledge and these arts initially lacked a religious character. They came to humanity in such a way that people could think of nothing else but putting them in the service of self-interest and their personal needs... 6It is not permitted for the time being to make public statements regarding the origin of these knowledge and arts. Therefore, a passage from the Akashic Records must be omitted here. Such knowledge includes, for example, that of fire in its application to human activities. In the early Atlantean era, humankind had no need for fire, for the life force was already at their disposal. However, as time went on and they became less able to make use of this force, they had to learn more and more to make tools and implements from so-called inanimate objects. The use of fire served this purpose. And the situation was similar with other forces of nature. Humanity had thus learned to make use of such natural forces without being aware of their divine origin. And that was as it should be. Humanity should not be forced by anything to relate these things—which serve their power of thought—to the divine world order. Rather, they should do so voluntarily in their thoughts. Thus, Manu’s intention was to lead people to connect such things with the higher world order independently, out of an inner need. As it were, choose—people could decide whether they wished to apply the knowledge they had gained purely for personal gain or in the religious service of a higher world. — Whereas previously human beings had been compelled to regard themselves as part of the divine order of the world—from which, for example, the mastery of life force flowed to them without their needing to exercise their power of thought—they could now also apply the forces of nature without directing their thoughts toward the divine. — Not all of the people whom the Manu had gathered around him were up to this decision; rather, only a small number of them were. And it was only from this latter group that the Manu could truly form the seed of the new race. With them, he then withdrew to further develop them, while the others mingled with the rest of humanity. — Everything that still constitutes the true seeds of progress for the fifth root race to this day descends from the aforementioned small number of people who had ultimately gathered around the Manu. This also explains why two characteristics run through the entire development of this fifth root race. One characteristic is inherent in those who are inspired by higher ideals and regard themselves as children of a divine world power; the other is found in those who place everything solely in the service of personal interests and self-interest.
[ 10 ] The small group remained around Manu until it had been sufficiently strengthened to act in accordance with the new spirit, and until its members were able to go out and bring this new spirit to the rest of humanity—those who had survived from the preceding races. It is natural that this new spirit took on a different character among the various peoples, depending on how they themselves had developed in their respective regions. The old, outdated traits mingled with what Manu’s emissaries carried to the various parts of the world. This gave rise to a multitude of new cultures and civilizations
[ 11 ] The most capable individuals from the Manu’s inner circle were chosen to be gradually and directly initiated into his divine wisdom, so that they might become teachers to the rest. Thus, a new class of initiates joined the ranks of the ancient messengers of the gods. These are the ones who have developed their powers of thought in an earthly manner, just like the rest of their fellow human beings. The earlier divine messengers—including the Manu—did not possess this. Their development belongs to higher worlds. They brought their higher wisdom into earthly conditions. What they bestowed upon humanity was a “gift from above.” Even before the middle of the Atlantean era, human beings were not yet advanced enough to comprehend the divine decrees through their own powers. Now—in the period indicated—they were to attain this ability. Earthly thinking was to rise to the concept of the Divine. Human initiates joined the superhuman ones. This marked a significant turning point in the evolution of the human race. Even the earliest Atlanteans did not have the choice of whether or not to regard their leaders as divine messengers. For what these leaders accomplished presented itself as the work of higher worlds; it bore the stamp of divine origin. Thus, the messengers of the Atlantean era were beings sanctified by their power, surrounded by the radiance that this power bestowed upon them. The human initiates of the subsequent era are, outwardly speaking, human beings among human beings. However, they remained connected to the higher worlds, and the revelations and manifestations of the divine messengers reach them. Only in exceptional cases, when a higher necessity arises, do they make use of certain powers bestowed upon them from those realms. Then they perform deeds which people, according to the laws known to them, do not understand and therefore rightly regard as miracles. — The higher purpose behind all this, however, is to set humanity on its own feet and to fully develop its power of thought. — Today, human initiates are the mediators between the people and the higher powers; and only initiation enables one to interact with the divine messengers.
[ 12 ] The human initiates—the sacred teachers—now became the guides for the rest of humanity at the beginning of the fifth root race. The great priest-kings of antiquity, attested not by history but by legend, belong to the ranks of these initiates. The higher messengers of the gods withdrew more and more from the Earth, leaving leadership to these human initiates, whom they nevertheless support with counsel and action. Were this not the case, humanity would never attain the free use of its power of thought. The world stands under divine guidance; but humanity is not to be forced to admit this—rather, it is to recognize and comprehend it through free reflection. Once they have reached this stage, the initiates gradually reveal their secrets to them. But this cannot happen suddenly. Rather, the entire development of the fifth root race is the slow path toward this goal. Like children, the Manu himself initially led his flock. Then leadership passed, very gradually, to human initiates. And today, progress still consists of a mixture of conscious and unconscious human action and thought. Only at the end of the fifth root race, when—through the sixth and seventh sub-races—a sufficiently large number of people are capable of knowledge, will the greatest initiate be able to reveal himself publicly to them. And